SSLA CAPTURED SPLA COLONEL AND FORTY FIVE SOLDIERS
November 24, 2011 (SSNA) — The SSLA, under the command of Maj. Gen. Mathews Pul Jang, captured SPLA Col. Yien Kurwai and forty five soldiers on the way between Bentiu and Mayom town on November 23 rd, 2011. Col. Yien Kurwai was captured with two pickup Toyotas and two Lorries full of rations that were destined for the feeding of SPLA forces in Mayom. The Prisoners of War (POWs) are now in detention in Mankien town. They are humanely treated as per international laws of war. We invite the ICRC to make arrangements with SSLA Military High Command to visit them in Mankien to verify that they are being treated according to international law.
The SSLA would like to inform all civilians to get out of Mayom in one week because our forces will attack the town. We also advise the civilians, NGOs and UN personnel to get out of Bentiu town before December 1st, 2011. The SSLA will launch Operation Ending Corruption in the entire Unity State. Every town in the entire state will experience military operation. We seriously advise civilians, NGOs and UN personnel to get out of Unity State before December to ensure their safety.
We advise the civilians, NGOs and UN to take our warnings very seriously because when the Operation Ending Corruption commences, it would be very difficult for foreign NGOs to escape because they don’t know the terrain and the environment. All the commercial flights to Bentiu must stop by December 1st, 2011.
The SSLA also calls upon all oil companies in Unity State to withdraw all their workers before December 1st, 2011 because their safety would not be guaranteed when military operations begin. We seriously advise oil workers to prioritize their safety and evacuate from Unity State before December. Although the SSLA has no intention to harm oil workers, it is advisable that they leave Unity State for their safety because in any military operations, safety is not one hundred percent guaranteed. The SSLA will fight a war which is unprecedented in the history of Unity State to liberate the people of South Sudan from corruption lords in Juba. Operation Ending Corruption is a very huge operation that would involve 15,000 strong SSLA forces. The operation that will take place in December is totally a different war that will be fought in every corner of Unity State.
As soon as Bentiu is liberated, the SSLM/A will call all political forces to form a Transitional Government of South Sudan that will replace the Kiir’s government while the liberation continues. After the total liberation of Juba and the rest of the South, the new Transitional Government will move to Juba as the seat of the new democratic government. The SSLM/A rejects the relocation of South Sudan‘s capital city to Ramciel. Juba has been the historical capital city of South Sudan and will remain so after the demise of Kiir’s regime which moved the capital city to Ramciel this year because of tribal reasons. After the total liberation of South Sudan, the decision of Kiir’s regime would be reversed and Juba will remain as the traditional capital of South Sudan.
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